Sep 9, 2016

Big Shed Brewing Co "Cherry Popper". A bit of a dodgy name for any drink, let alone cider, which has held for many years a reputation for wild teen parties and bad hangovers.

Normally I dislike fruit ciders with a passion. Too often with fruit ciders and beers, the brewer goes for the sharp lambic style, or in the case of many European brands, it's all about adding more sugar. Thankfully this one is neither.

A brilliant rose colour, the cider has a very clear cherry juice fragrance and just a hint of mushroom. The carbonation is fairly ordinary, and there is no head to speak of. While it does have a dangerous ABV, there really is nothing that makes this drink challenging. I think it's a bit sterile. A bit safe.

There is a good balanced acidity to it, but I cannot say it authentically tastes like cherry juice. Cherries and apples have a bit of crossover on flavour and that makes this drink a little more clever. It's a damn near seamless marriage of both fruit. Besides a good flavour there is not much else. It's on the dry side of draught with no length.

A tasty domestic session cider. I'd rate it as the best cherry cider I've had and definitely up towards the top on fruit ciders.

Price paid - unknown, purchased through the Galafray cellar door 4-5 years ago on a whim.

Honeycomb and caramel notes predominated,but was not corked. The cork itself was in remarkable condition given that the wine had spent a lot of time upright. It was just starting to powder and crumbled just as it was extracted.

Honey amber, showing signs of oxidation, yet it still had good acid, and now off flavours. Overall the wine is now burnt lime peel and botrytis.The fresh lemon and lime had all but left.

With more careful storage it could have been better. Unfortunately I think this bottle was very much at the end of it's life. It probably should have been opened two years ago in hindsight.

Jul 25, 2016

Back in 2011 I obtained this reserve cider from Knight's. This month we found another one - which was a little different and a lot better.

Uncarbonated, a deep amber gold, this is pretty much the classic English cider. Its got a bit of old wood and wet fruit that you would expect from a barrel aged cider, but the finish was surprisingly complex. A medium dry but fruity beverage with a really pleasant acidity and hint of bitterness.

Yarlington Mill (bittersweet), and Dabinett (bittersweet) apples are commonly used, but we don't often see the old varieties like Kingson Black (bittersharp) and Harry Master's Jersey (bittersweet) in ciders reaching our shores.

I'd love to try this gently warmed and spiced. A really good example of traditional cider.

I wasn't sure what to think with this one. Fuji apples don't make for a good cider, and adding hops to cider in the past has resulted in some - lets say - experimental, drinks.

Spreyton's Bitter is a unusual drink. It's unfiltered, so unless you like your cider old-school chunky, don't disturb the bottle. The brewer's soft touch with the hops has added a resinous note but not
much else. It's a curious mix that attempts to emulate the bitter that
is normally present if you use cider apples and a yeasty flavour.

Ultimately the attempt fails because of the absolutely huge 8% alcohol - in dry ciders, that's a very noticeable and distracting feature. The fruit can't match it, there is no sugar to hide it and in this one not enough hops to bitter things up. Shame about that.

Another unfiltered light cider with a high ABV, I felt that this had some good traditional cider apple flavours, but was overall a bit wishy-washy.

Naturally carbonated, the soft bead was a nice change from all the artificially carbonated ciders on the market. It didn't taste aged, so I'm slightly disappointed. I expected more funk from the "vintage" label.

Overall I thought it was out of balance due to the high alcohol percentage, but if you like dry traditional ciders, it's one to try.

Mar 14, 2016

I've not felt like a cider for some months and a review of this one got pushed back, and back, and back. This bottle is the result of that and languished at the back of the refrigerator for a full 9 months.

I have no idea if Mane still stocks it, but you will undoubtedly find it or it's pure apple cousin in the larger, more domestic liquor stores.

As an experiment in storage, the OPA failed miserably. Significant sedimentation had occurred, leaving a pale, soda heavy drink with little palate or body - until I poured the second glass, where upon it looked like someone had cleaned a paintbrush in it.

The flavour was reminiscent or Westons and several other domestic English brands, but I wouldn't guarantee that what I had will be the same as a fresh bottle.